Senate remembers contribution of late Senator

  The Senate has today paid tribute to the late Senator Jeannie Ferris and urged all Australians to support this month’s Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.   A motion* from South Australian Coalition Senators and the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Status of Women, passed unanimously by the Senate this afternoon, highlights Ms Ferris’s work in…

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Wong warns Weatherill on water – wise and welcome

  Former federal Water Minister Penny Wong’s warning today to South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill over Murray-Darling Basin reform has been welcomed by the Coalition’s Basin spokesman, Simon Birmingham.   Asked about Mr Weatherill’s threats of a High Court challenge to a final Basin Plan, Senator Wong delivered a clear warning to Mr Weatherill and…

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Labor divided on Murray-Darling Basin reform

  Divisions within South Australian Labor on Murray-Darling Basin reform are now spreading into federal Labor, putting at risk the entire reform process, Coalition Murray-Darling Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today.   “Premier Weatherill’s threats to challenge the Basin Plan in the High Court have been rejected by most SA federal Labor MPs, who have…

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Jay prefers by-election politics to Murray outcomes

  Misleading Labor campaign material has demonstrated how ineffective for the Murray SA Labor has been at both state and federal levels, Coalition Murray-Darling Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today.   The postcard* distributed in the state electorate of Port Adelaide by the Labor Party for its by-election campaign claims that “Jay Weatherill’s Labor Party…

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Collapsed deal – but diverted Murray funds flow

  Money earmarked for returning water to the Murray-Darling Basin has started flowing towards an unrelated project offering no such benefit, Coalition Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today.   In response to questions from Senator Birmingham through Senate Estimates, the Gillard Government has confirmed[1] it has begun handing over $20 million to the New South…

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Taxpayers foot bill for carbon tax bureaucracy

  Australian taxpayers are wearing a double hit from the carbon tax thanks to the high spending bureaucracy administering it, according to Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham.   It follows revelations of Departmental staff and office arrangements in answers* to questions asked by Senator Birmingham through Senate Estimates.   “Not only will…

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